John Lydon loses out in Ireland Eurovision bid

Dublin: John Lydon has failed in his bid to represent Ireland at this year´s Eurovision, losing out to rock band Wild Youth in a nationally televised competition on Friday.

The Dublin four-piece, performing the song "We Are One", was selected ahead of Lydon´s band Public Image Ltd. and four other acts, by a combination of Irish and international experts as well as a public vote during a special programme broadcast by RTE.

The win propels Wild Youth to the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool in May.

The band, which has had a string of hits in Ireland, has toured with Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi and Irish pop star Niall Horan.

"We just hope we can do the best job for Ireland and make it amazing, we want to give it everything and we hope that everyone gets behind the song," Wild Youth frontman Conor O´Donohoe said.

Lydon, 66, was born in London but his parents both hailed from Ireland. His mother was originally from Cork in the country´s southwest and his father from Galway on the west coast.

Eurovision is to be held in Liverpool in 2023 after the UK came in second to Ukraine last year.

Typically, the winner of the competition holds the following year´s event but organisers decided Ukraine would be unable to host because of Russia´s invasion nearly one year ago.